Madrid, Feb 28: FC Barcelona kept their La Liga title hopes alive and probably ended Sevilla’s with a 2-0 win in the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium. Ousmane Dembele and Lionel Messi gave Barça a win in the ground where they lost 2-0 in the Copa del Rey 17 days ago and just four days before the teams meet again in the Camp Nou.
Barça suffered a nervous wait before kick-off when goalkeeper Marc Andre Ter Stegen hurt his thumb in the warm-up and had to retire to the dressing room, and it was not until he came out with the rest of his team-mates that his presence was confirmed, Xinhua news reports.
Meanwhile, Barça boss Ronaldo Koeman sprang a surprise in his line-up with Sergino Dest and Jordi Alba playing as wing-backs in front of three central defenders on Saturday.
The first half saw both teams play a tactical game with Sevilla willing to sit deep and allow Barça possession and they defended with few problems until the 29th minute when Messi threaded the ball through for Dembele to run clear and thread the ball past Bono in the Sevilla goal.
Youssef En Nesyri had a goal ruled out for offside but Messi assured the three points for Barça five minutes from time after linking with substitute Ilaix Moriba. (IANS)
